• Law minister says chief justice’s appointment will be in line with Constitution; reiterates most senior judge to head Supreme Court
• Joint session of parliament likely next week; rules out constitutional amendments

ISLAMABAD: Amid ru­m­ours that the government plans to extend the terms of Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and army chief General Asim Munir, Lea­der of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub on Monday asked the government to ‘immediately’ announce the name of the next chief justice.

“The government sho­uld immediately annou­nce the name of the new chief justice amid the prevailing situation. There will be a strong protest if any legislation is done in this regard,” he said while speaking in the house.

Chief Justice Isa is set to retire on October 25.

In response to concerns expressed by the opposition leader, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the most senior judge would become the CJP. “The matter of appointing the chief justice of the Supreme Court can only be proceeded in accordance with the Constitution,” he said.

The law minister, however, said there was no such requirement for the CJs of high courts. He referred to the appointment of the Lahore High Court chief justice to support his point.

Earlier, the business advisory committee of the National Assembly discussed a proposal to summon a joint session of parliament next week. Law Minister Tarar made it clear during the meeting that constitutional amendments were not possible in a joint sitting and rejected all reports to this effect.

Sources within the ruling coalition still claimed that some crucial amendments were on the cards. Without elaborating, a source said the amendments would be tabled in the house through a supplementary agenda while indicating that it may be about a uniform extension in the retirement age of superior court judges.

Omar Ayub thanked Speaker Ayaz Sadiq for issuing production orders for Haji Imtiaz Chaudhry, allowing him to attend the session. “This is a commendable tradition, and I want to praise Ayaz Sadiq for it,” Mr Ayub remarked.

The opposition leader condemned the recent terrorist activities in Punjab’s Katcha area and called for the dismissal of the Punjab police chief. He also announced that the PTI would hold a grand public rally on September 8, regardless of the circumstances.

The PTI lawmakers staged a walkout from the house to protest the speaker’s refusal to allow Asad Qaiser to speak.

Local govt bill

The highlight of the day was the passage of the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2024“, which many see as an attempt to postpone the already-delayed LG polls in the federal capital. The bill is most likely to be passed by the Senate today (Tuesday) to become an act of parliament after a formal assent by the president.

During the question hour, the National Assembly was informed that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) was taking various initiatives to increase the accessibility of the public to the internet.

Responding to a question, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Nazeer Tarar said the PTA has allowed six gigahertz spectrum band for unlicensed operation for Radio Local Area Network in Pakistan. Mr Tarar said this development aims to facilitate the deployment of the next generation Wifi technology across Pakistan.

The minister said the PTA also formulated the telecom infrastructure sharing framework for the growth and sustainability of the telecom sector in Pakistan.

Gwadar airport

Answering another question, Aviation Minister Khawaja Asif said the New Gwadar International Airport project was complete and its operationalisation was expected by the end of this year.

Several reports of various standing committees of the National Assembly were presented before the lower house. These reports included: ‘The State vs. Mubarak Ahmad Sani and another’, ‘The Establishment of Telecommunication Appellate Tribunal Bill 2024’, ‘The Cannabis Control and Regulatory Authority Bill, 2024’, ‘The Apostille Bill 2024’, and ‘The Privatisation Commission (Amendment) Bill 2024’.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2024